With 10 million Google searches for podcasts each month, it’s no wonder we are constantly being asked: can you make money doing a podcast? In the past 5 years, the number of podcast listeners has more than doubled to 90 million in the US, and 74% of the 25-54 age group listen to podcasts on a monthly basis. That’s a lot of people looking to connect with you over their shared love to true crime.

Just like blogs, social media accounts, and websites, if you have audience engagement, there is an opportunity to make money from the value you provide your listeners. Whether just starting out or publishing your 100th episode, we’ve got a revenue strategy for you. Here are 3 of the most effective methods for monetizing your podcast.

✴ 1. Donations

Encouraging your listeners to make financial donations is one of the most effective ways to bring in money from the people who care about your content the most. It might sound counter intuitive – why would people pay for something they can already access for free? The answer is you are providing something they value enough to support knowing you will in turn be able to continue to give them the content they love.

Congressional Dish, a bimonthly podcast hosted by Jennifer Briney, survives on donations alone. Providing a variety of different payment options (more on that below!), listeners are invited to contribute as much or as little as they can afford. This can be a one-off payment or a regular monthly donation. The key to this monetization strategy is to provide listeners with great content. If you put out podcast episodes people want to listen to, then you’ll find some of them will be happy to contribute to your costs. Here are some ways you can collect donations:

✴ Anchor.fm

Anchor.fm is a provider for all things podcast related, and if you’ve got a show of your own, you may be using it already. Via the app, you can collect donations from your listeners, record audio content directly onto your phone and then publish it immediately.

✴ Glow.fm

Glow allows your listeners to donate to your show without leaving their podcast app. You get a webpage that you can customize to match any existing branding. The link for your Glow page can be placed on your podcast home page, episode notes, or social media. Your listeners can then easily make a one-off or recurring donations using Google Pay or Apple Pay.

✴ Patreon

Patreon is one of the most popular ways for creatives to receive donations from their listeners, subscribers, and followers. It’s basically crowdfunding for your podcast, but instead of people giving you a lump sum towards a one-off project, they pay you a little bit each month. You can set different levels of payment that offer various rewards such as sneak peeks or exclusive content.

✴ Direct Payments

You can also receive donations as direct payments or transfers by providers such as PayPal and Venmo. The downside to this method of collecting payments is that there is a lower level of engagement with your listeners than with, for example, Patreon. This might take the fun out of donating for some listeners, but it never hurts to try.

✴ 2. Advertising and Sponsorships

Both ad placements and referral sponsorships are forms of advertising, but they work in different ways. We’ll take a look at them in a bit more detail so you can decide whether sponsorship is another option for monetizing your podcast.

✴ Ad Placements

Payment for ads run on your podcast are usually calculated on a CPM basis. CPM stands for cost-per-thousand and you agree on a price that will be paid out per one thousand listens. These types of advertisements can be inserted at various points in your podcast and the CPM price can vary depending on where the ad is placed.

Pre-roll ads are inserted before your podcast begins and are the first thing your listeners will hear. For this premium spot, you can usually charge the most. Mid-roll ads come in the middle of your show and post-roll ads are played at the end of your show. Post-roll ads typically pay the least because many listeners leave before listening to the full ad.

What should be clear with advertising is it completely depends on the popularity of your episodes. If your episode listens are under 1k, this likely won’t be an option unless you have a niche podcast with a dedicated following and can pitch to interested companies within your niche. Reaching 1k+ on episodes is a great goal to work towards, and once reaching, CPM ads can generate a good chunk of change.

✴ Referral Sponsorships

Referral or affiliate sponsorships are a great way of monetizing your podcast if you’re just starting out. The way it works is you refer your listeners to a specific brand, product, or service and for every purchase or sign-up, you get a percentage in commission. This option is accessible to every podcast, even if you only have a handful of listeners.

Some brands will offer you unique discount codes that you can pass on to your listeners. When they then sign up to a service or buy a product from the brand’s website, they use the code to receive the discount. This code identifies the sale or sign-up as one of your referrals, and you get a commission in return for the referral. The more people who use the code, the more money you make. Listeners are inundated with this kind of advertising, so our advice is to find unique brands that are relevant to your listeners.

✴ 3. Merchandise

Selling branded or podcast-themed merchandise is another way to raise funds from your audio content. T-shirts, sweaters, caps, mugs, keyrings, fridge magnets, aprons, and bags are popular choices for many podcasts. A few ways to create, promote, and sell your merch are:

✴ Teespring

Teespring allows you to design your own t-shirts along with other types of clothing. You can also customize items such as mugs, towels, bags, phone cases, pillows, and canvas prints. Your pod swag can then be sold to your enthusiastic listeners through the Teespring platform.

✴ Shopify

Shopify is another popular way of selling merchandise. Through the site, you can set up your own shop and choose a theme that reflects the style of your brand or podcast. Add products to it, and you’re ready to go. Shopify handles the technical side of things, leaving you free to promote your designs to your listeners.

✴ YouTube

If you’re in the habit of creating YouTube videos to accompany your podcasts, then you can sell merchandise directly from the platform. You can publicize items in your video and channel descriptions. And if you’re appearing in the video itself, wearing your own merch is one way to get it noticed.

✴ **So, can you make money doing a podcast?**

In short, yes. The truth is you’re probably not going to be rolling in it overnight. But if you’re savvy and explore the different options that align with where your podcast is right now, then there’s every reason to believe that monetizing your podcast is possible. Donations, advertising, sponsorship, and merchandise are just a few ways to offset your costs and eventually let you profit from sharing your voice.

For easy strategies to grow your podcast even further, download our free mini-guide here.

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3 Methods for Monetizing Your Podcast